The Amish are known for their large families and Elizabeth Bontrager’s family was no exception. She was the oldest of nine children! Her mother had trouble managing her supersized family so Elizabeth does the lion’s share of caring for the little ones and doing the housework, and that’s after returning home from a full day’s work! She loves her family deeply and strongly desires to honor her parents but at the age of 20, feels she is missing the chance to have a life and family of her own. An English pen pal she met opens the door of opportunity by asking her leave her home in Goshen, Indiana and come live with her in Paradise, Pennsylvania.
She’s never had a rumspringa. Her wish is not to go wild as some Amish youth do during their rumspringa, but to truly seek what God would have her do, not what the church tells her to do. Her question is not to leave the Amish church; her roots run deep. Her confusion comes as to whether she would be dishonoring her parents by leaving home to start a life of her own.
After she embarks on the bus to Paradise, she meets a handsome Amish man named Saul Miller. Little did she know he would become her boss when she gets a job working in his family’s store.
Elizabeth has many new experiences in the English world. I knew the Amish lived very simple lives without modern conveniences, but I never thought about the confusion and surprises they might have if they were exposed to them. Seeing the modern world through her eyes for the first time gave me a new perspective. While Elizabeth holds fast to the foundation of her Amish beliefs, she also embraces the new experiences her adventure offers. Her common sense and experience in caring for her family enables her to help several people in emergency situations.
I loved her innocence and integrity. Her love for her family, and her feeling of responsibility beckons her to go home, but her love for her new life and Saul make her want to stay. What should she do? She must make a choice.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and anxiously await book 2 of which there is an excerpt is included. I love recipes and was delighted to see some of the recipes from the story are shared. A wonderful book!
I received this book free from the Abingdon Press. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.

Carolyn Lapp made a youthful mistake in her teens and had a child out of wedlock, a great shame in the Amish community. She refuses to reveal who the father is. While she loves her son Benjamin, now 15, with all her heart, she feels she will never have a husband and home of her own. She feels trapped in her past mistake. The church and her parents, whom they live with, have completely forgiven her, but her brother never lets her forget her sin. He reminds her at every turn. He even plays matchmaker insisting she settle for an older widower with a daughter, but Carolyn dreams of marrying for love.
Her brother has two sons that are real rascals and constantly blaming her son for their misdeeds. At a local auction, his cousins throw a rock and injure a horse belonging to Joshua Glick. When he catches up with them they blame Benjamin. Only his mother believes in his innocence. As punishment and to pay for the vet bill, Benjamin is forced to work on Joshua’s horse farm. The silver lining is that he will least be free of his cousins tormenting him.
Benjamin begins to enjoy his work and being there. Joshua seems to be a hard man. He is still grieving the loss of his brother who ran the farm with him. To make things worse, his heart is broken when his brother’s widow refuses to marry him and marries an Englisher. Believing he can never love again, he has put a wall around his heart.
Carolyn makes visits to the farm to bring Benjamin’s lunch and sometimes confront Joshua on what she deems unfair treatment of her son. The two begin to develop feelings they thought they would never have. The problem is Joshua thinks Benjamin is Carolyn’s brother.
Carolyn’s older brother has the widower courting her, and Joshua shows an interest too. Which should she choose? The one that will accept her or risk telling the one she loves the truth and possibly lose him. Joshua’s mother is pushing him to court a young woman she feels is “perfect” for him but whom he has no interest in. Trials, misunderstandings, and doubts cause many problems for the couple.
A big lesson is to be learned is how assumptions cause many relationship problems while open, honest communication strengthens them. This is a beautiful story of forgiveness and learning to trust God with your future, no matter what your past has been.
I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255